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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Welcome to the Masters morning rundown, your one-stop shop to catch up on the action from Augusta National. Here’s everything you need to know for the morning of April 6.

Spieth sets the pace

What slump? Jordan Spieth racked up seven birdies—including five consecutive on the back—and an eagle on Thursday afternoon to take the Masters lead on Day 1.

It’s not so much that Spieth went low, but how. While he made the most of the 11 greens he hit—on the nine holes where a red number was recorded, six were spurred by approaches within 12 feet—Spieth chalked up two of his best shots to his putter. An eagle putt on the eighth and, of all things, a five-foot bogey putt on the seventh.

“It was a very difficult putt, and I could have dropped to over par,” Spieth said. “And it led to stepping on No. 8 tee feeling like, okay, regrouped, let’s grab three coming in.”

Given his early-season struggles have been attributed to the flat stick—he entered the week ranked 185th in strokes gained: putting—Spieth’s 1.33 putts per green mark was an auspicious sign, and to the rest of the field, a bad omen. It wasn’t a flawless round; he driver was problematic, and he did make three bogeys. As it was routinely pointed out, one good putting round does not erase three months of woe. But confidence breeds more confidence, and on a course that Spieth has made his de facto home, Spieth is brimming with it heading into Friday.

On Wednesday night, it appeared Tony Finau wouldn’t be able to tee it up in Round 1. Which made what transpired on Thursday all the more shocking. As night fell on Augusta National Thursday night, the 28-year-old finds himself near the top of the leader board.

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Despite dislocating his ankle in celebration at the Par-3 Contest, Finau cobbled together a four-under 68, one of the best rounds on Day 1. The tour’s leader in driving distance still had plenty of oomph off the tee, and though his irons weren’t on (hitting just half of the greens in regulation) his putter was, with a field-best 1.28 putts per hole.

He did it with “quite a bit” of tape. And a hell of a lot of heart.

“It was nothing short of a miracle ,” Finau said.

This is Finau’s first appearance at the Masters, and as it’s been noted, this is a tournament not kind to newbies. Considering what he just accomplished on one ankle, taking down that history doesn’t seem too daunting.

Tiger’s so-so Round 1

The buzz never stopped for Tiger Woods’ first Masters round in three years. The problem was, Woods never got going, posting a one-over 73.

The 14-time major winner was able to make two birdies on the final five holes, yet his poor driving continues to rear its ugly head. This was especially evident on the par 5s, which have been the bane of his existence this season (101st in par 5 scoring), failing to make birdie on Augusta National’s long holes.

To his credit, Tiger was okay with his round, and feels like he’s in position to strike.

“Yes, I played in a major championship again, but also the fact that … I got myself back in this tournament, and I could have easily let it slip away,” he said. “I fought hard to get it back in there, and I’m back in this championship. It will be fun the next 54 holes.”

It will. The Masters always is. But Woods needs a solid Friday to make sure he’s part of that mix.

Sergio’s terrible, no good, very bad hole

Sergio Garcia came to Augusta National’s 15th hole at two over in his first round as reigning Masters champ. His score was decidedly higher when walking to the 16th tee. After hitting a 320-yard drive on the 15th, leaving 200 yards and change, the Spaniard’s approach went into the water. As did his fourth. And six. And eighth. And, you guessed it, 10th.

However, the 12th found land, and the 38-year-old sunk the 10-footer. The final damage? An octuple-bogey 13.

“I don’t know,” Garcia responded when asked to explain the hole. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s one of those things. I feel like—I don’t know, it’s the first time in my career where I make a 13 without missing a shot. Simple as that. I felt like I hit a lot of good shots and unfortunately the ball just didn’t want to stop. I don’t know, you know, it’s one of those things. So it’s just unfortunate, but that’s what it is.”

The 13 tied for the highest score in Masters history, and the highest score on the 15th, “beating” the 11s of Masashi (Jumbo) Ozaki, Ben Crenshaw and Ignacio Garrido. To Garcia’s credit, he bounced back on the 16th with a birdie. But it’s safe to say he won’t be defending his crown.

Day’s suds-soaked shot

That Jason Day’s drive at the first went left is not a shock; that side is a common bailout for players on the opening tee. What makes Day’s shot unique is where his second landed: into a patron’s beer.

The 2015 PGA champ’s approach sailed to the right, clattered around the Georgia pines, hit a patron’s shoulder and landed in a libation. Told by an official that Day needed to identify his ball, the fan obliged, downing the drink to the amusement of his fellow patrons and Day.

Unfortunately for Day, he was unable to save par from the suds-soaked spot, walking away with a bogey. The rest of his front nine wasn’t much better, making the turn in 40 and finishing with a 75. But at least he had a story to cheers to after the round.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The back-nine drama that turned Rickie Fowler into a bona fide leading man at last year’s Players Championship was gone, replaced in this year’s event by Jason Day’s solidification as golf’s leading closer. The top-ranked Day posted a one-under-par 71 on Sunday at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass for a 72-hole score of 15-under 273, four strokes ahead of Kevin Chappell, who carded a final-round 69.

With the victory, Day recorded his — and the PGA Tour’s — second wire-to-wire win of the 2015-16 season, matching his emphatic performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. At the postround ceremony, Fowler, who had erased a five-stroke deficit last year with a final-round 67 and then prevailed in a playoff, handed Day the crystal trophy and congratulated him on “some spectacular golf.”

Day, 28, has won three times in 2016 and seven times in his past 17 starts. He is making it look easy, but if winning from ahead were a piece of cake, the tour would have more pear-shaped players like Ken Duke (72) and Colt Knost (69), who tied for third with Matt Kuchar (68) and Justin Thomas (65) at 10 under.

In the season’s first 26 tour events, Day was one of nine players to win after sleeping on at least a share of the third-round lead. Over all, 54-hole leaders have a 34.6 percent success rate in closing out tournaments. Day is two for two this season and five for five dating to last summer’s P.G.A. Championship, which Day’s fellow Australian Adam Scott described as “Tiger-esque.”

As it happens, Day is in regular contact with Tiger Woods, the former world No. 1 who has become Day’s mentor and friend. Their relationship was built on Woods’s offering golf-related advice to Day, who has proved a quick study.

“This week he texted me and said, ‘Just stay in your world, and it’s a marathon,’ ” Day said, adding, “Just little things like that that obviously stick with me and keep me going.”

Day led the field in driving with a 311.6-yard average, and in scrambling, saving par 17 of the 20 times he missed the green. When Woods, who has been sidelined since August after having back surgery, returns to competition, he might want to turn the questions on Day.

One of Day’s best responses to adversity came on the par-4 No. 7. After his approach found a greenside bunker, Day hit his next shot from an awkward stance, with one foot in the sand and the other on the grassy lip. The ball stopped 15 feet from the pin, and he made the putt. Day had two bogeys on the front, on Nos. 6 and 9, but bounced back with a bogey-free, three-under 33 on the final nine. After the round, he described his six-foot bogey putt on 9 as his most critical shot of the day, because if he had missed, he would have given his challengers renewed hope.

“It’s very impressive,” Thomas said, referring to Day’s five consecutive victories while holding the 54-hole lead. Thomas would know. He slept on the third-round lead at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last fall and then held off the hard-charging Scott, a former world No. 1, for his first tour win. Thomas and Scott were paired together Sunday, and as they walked up the 18th fairway, Thomas said, they shared war stories about the difficulties of closing out a tournament.

Thomas, 23, began the day 11 strokes behind Day, and said he never considered for a nanosecond that he could post a score low enough to pull out the come-from-behind win.

“With Jason Day leading the tournament, you wouldn’t think that’s a chance,” Thomas said, adding: “It’s no coincidence he’s No. 1 in the world. I mean, he drives it extremely far, extremely straight. He hits it to the moon so he can access pins that most people can’t. His short game is ridiculous.”

Scott, who was No. 1 for 11 weeks in 2014, played a practice round on the eve of the tournament with Day and another Australian, Marc Leishman.

“You can see there’s that calmness inside him, calm confidence, and the way he’s walking around, he’s got that kind of unbeatable look about him,” Scott said.

When Scott, 35, turned pro, he had a swing and a swagger that invited comparisons to Woods. He has had his moments, becoming the first Australian to win the Masters in 2013 and producing a torrid stretch this season in which he posted back-to-back wins and two seconds in seven starts.

But what Day is doing is something altogether different, Scott said.

“He’s managed so far to keep that momentum going, and that’s one of the hardest things to do when you are hot like that — to keep pushing,” Scott said. “But he has a very strong desire to achieve so much, and I think probably his goals are changing throughout this period, and he’s expecting more and more of himself.”

In 2014, Day acknowledged that his primary aim had once been to make loads of money. His goals have evolved. Since becoming No. 1 and staring down the two-time major winner Jordan Spieth to win his first major at the P.G.A. Championship, Day is focused on his legacy. On Saturday, Day said he dearly wanted to win this event because it would enhance his credentials for inclusion in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“The little bits of insight that I get into his whole life, I think he’s got a handle on everything,” Scott said, adding, “He’s matured as a person so much in the last four or five years, and I think that’s showing in his golf game.”

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